Pleasantville’s Isaiah Davenport, a Rowan junior, cleared a lifetime-best 6-10 ¼ in the high jump and solidified his spot in NCAA Division 3 qualifying Saturday at the Armory.
Davenport became the 5th Rowan high jumper to clear 6-9 or better this year and all five should make the cut for the D-3 Championships in Birmingham next weekend.
The top 20 and ties in each individual event qualify for nationals and the deadline to qualify is Saturday night. Davenport ranked 17th going into this weekend’s last-chance meets.
His previous PR was 6-8 ¾ at Ocean Breeze last month. Davenport is in his first season at Rowan after attending Holy Family in Philadelphia. He cleared 6-8 ¼ last January at Ocean Breeze competing for Holy Family. He extended his PR to 6-8 ¾ twice at Ocean Breeze this year.
On Saturday, Davenport cleared 6-5 on his 3rd attempt, 6-7 on his 1st, then a PR 6-9 on his 2nd try and another PR 6-10 ¼ on his 2nd jump. He took three tries at another PR 6-11 ½.
Another Rowan jumper, Arrington Rhym, a sophomore from Hamilton West, moved up from 17th at 6-8 ¾ to tied for 8thwith a 6-9 clearance, tying his lifetime best. He previously cleared 6-9 outdoors last May in Baltimore.
Sophomore Noah Wampole cleared 6-10 ¼ for Rowan, but he’s already tied for 3rd in Division 3 this year at 6-10 ¾.
A fifth Rowan high jumper, junior Damarion Potts from South Brunswick, cleared a season-best 6-7.
Freshman David Brown of Edison, the NCAA Division 3 freshman record holder at 7-2 ¼, won the high jump at 6-11 ½ and then passed all the way to 7-3, which would be No. 2 in Division 3 history but missed three tries.
Another Rowan high jumper, junior Jamile Gantt from Paulsboro, did not compete Saturday but has cleared 6-10 ¾ this year.
So with just hours left in qualifying, Brown is No. 1 in D-3 at 7-2 ¼, Gantt and Wampole are tied for No. 3 at 6-10 ¾, Davenport is No. 5 at 6-10 ¼ and Ryhm is No. 14 at 6-9. So the Profs will have quite a contingent in Birmingham this weekend.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 